RIP Dory Funk Jr.

In a pretty big blow to the #J-fashion scene, the KERA shop at Shinjuku Marui Annex in #Tokyo has announced that it will close on September 27. That building is crawling with tourists, but it seems that people just want Chiikawa and Kit Kats instead of Gothic Lolita, punk, and V-kei clothing.

Kyoto’s Toei Eigamura is turning Halloween into a #yokai parade. “Kaikai Yokai Festival 2026” runs Sept. 12 to Nov. 29, filling the Edo-period former film set village with daytime and nighttime "100 demons" parades, yokai dance shows, greetings, art exhibits, food, and limited goods.

Sir, this is a Wendy's

PROPHECIES OF NOSTRADAMUS (Catastrophe-1999)

YouTube video by InternetzGuy

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If today feels slightly more apocalyptic than usual, perhaps that's because it's the 52nd anniversary of PROPHECIES OF NOSTRADAMUS (originally released Aug 3, 1974 in #Japan). Can you prove it didn't happen?

The dream always starts the same way

Don't Panic: The Game Panic arcade in Shinjuku Kabukicho will close on 9/30, along with the bowling alley and other businesses inside the HUMAX building. It used to be a fun place to kill time between movies, but eventually filled up with UFO catchers, purikura, and luck-based games. So it goes.

Aaaand it's the 46th anniversary of BE FOREVER YAMATO, originally released August 2, 1980 in Japan

have you ever been this happy about anything

Not on my 2026 Bingo card: LA's iconic Pink's Hot Dogs will be opening their first store in #Japan. The location will be in #Tokyo with the schedule set for sometime later this year. www.enjoytokyo.jp/news/205088/

日本初上陸！LA発の老舗ホットドッグ店「ピンクスホットドッグス」東京都内にオープン｜レッツエンジョイ東京

ロサンゼルス発の人気ホットドッグ店「ピンクスホットドッグス（Pink’s Hot Dogs）」が日本初上陸。2026年内を目途に国内1号店が東京都内にオープン予定です。

enjoytokyo.jp

McDonald's #Japan has done collabos with Godzilla, Evangelion, and Pokémon, but KFC now has... Uma Musume?

Thursday

Takashi Ishii, the late cult filmmaker and #manga artist behind A Night in Nude and the Gonin series, left behind a long-unmade script. Now "Ame no Étranger," an erotic noir he kept revising late in life, is finally becoming a film from director Hideo Jojo, opening in #Japan Dec. 4.

Japanese film director Kenji Mizoguchi is getting his first full-scale retrospective in Tokyo. Marking 70 years since his death, the National Film Archive will trace his career from 8/11 to 12/13 with scripts, posters, costume sketches, and rare items from classics like Ugetsu and Sansho the Bailiff

The Real Reason #Japan Is Tightening the Noose on Immigration That No One Is Talking About

J-Pop Talk Show - Saturday Night Live

YouTube video by Saturday Night Live

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Gonna tell my kids this is City Pop

Chiikawa: The Secret of Mermaid Island is already a huge #anime blockbuster. Opening July 24 on 447 screens, including 65 IMAX theaters, the film drew 1,508,538 viewers and earned ¥2.24 billion, about $13.7 million, in its first 3 days, taking No. 1 at #Japan’s weekend box office.

The real Ghost Rider is coming to #Tokyo Comic Con 2026

AI translation can never replace human translation

RIP Chuck Russell

July 24, marks 15 years since #Japan ended terrestrial analog TV broadcasts. Akihabara once sold mountains of CRT TVs, one of postwar Japan’s “three sacred treasures,” so the countdown to analog shutdown in 2011 was a big deal. This was a funeral-style memorial ceremony in AKB featuring... DAT BEAR!

Seven-Eleven #Japan is warning franchise stores over suspected insider reselling of popular #anime and game goods. Some owners and staff reportedly held items before release, bought them up, or gave priority access to select customers, with contract cancellations already happening in some cases.

Mood

Happy #GUNHED Day! Originally released in #Japan on 7/22/1989!

Toei Animation is marking its 70th anniversary with five classic #anime films on Blu-ray in #Japan, newly restored from 4K negative scans: Magic Boy, Alakazam the Great, Flying Phantom Ship, Animal Treasure Island, and The Golden Bird. Releases roll out monthly from Oct. 14 through Feb. 10.

Strange things are happenin' behind the moon!

Episode 173 of the PURE TOKYOSCOPE Podcast is live! This time, @mattalt.bsky.social and I take a look at Netflix’s Human Vapor series and the new Ghost in the Shell #anime. Plus, vintage toy talk and agonizing over physical media! Listen to the full episode at: www.tokyoscope.blog/p/pure-tokyo...

Pure TokyoScope Podcast 173: The Human Vapor! New Ghost in the Shell Anime! Totally Insane Toy Collections!

Patrick Macias and Matt Alt bring you pop culture direct from Japan!

tokyoscope.blog

First GariGariKun of the summer (but not the last)